Once upon a Valentine
by Lia Tsuka
Summary: And how do you plan to do that considering your boat has abandoned you he said laughing at he girl's annoyed face when she saw her boat had indeed floated beyond her reach. Oneshot stand alone. Raerob


Konnichiwa

This is very very loosely based on one of my all time favourite films What Dreams Might Come. ( also a book) I have reworked it a lot however, so only snippets of the film are incorporated to work with the general story.

This is partially AU and will focus mainly on Robin ( Richard Grayson ) and Raven ( Rachel Roth ). The titans have minor roles but don't expect major parts.

Disclaimer: I Do Not own Teen Titans or What Dreams May Come BUT I do own a vintage 1989 Heritage Mint Bisque China Clown called Chester the Jester and a variety of other porcelain and china dolls...

Happy Belated Valentines day!

I love you all xx

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**Once upon a Valentine**

_When I was young I met this beautiful girl by a lake..._

Switzerland 1975: Valentines Day pt 1

Richard lay in his boat, his blue eyes gazing at the heavens. Ribbons of golden light traversed the periwinkle blue sky while the clouds drifted lazily beyond the Alps to far off lands.He always felt calm on the water, no matter what problems arose in his life, the water offered a release. He pondered this as the boat rose gently with the lakes movements, lulling him into sleep, his ebony hair blown across his face by the wind. He was rudely awakened by the sudden jolting of his boat and sitting up noticing the upturned boat and the 17 year old girl treading water with a scowl on her face.

"Do you need help?" He asked the floundering girl.

In reply she glared at him before delivering a biting remark

"No I'm perfectly capable of helping myself."

Richard chuckled a smirk on his face

"And how do you plan to do that considering your boat has abandoned you" he said laughing at he girl's annoyed face when she saw her boat had indeed floated beyond her reach.

She glared at him once more as she allowed herself to be helped into his boat.

"Thank you " the girl muttered looking down at her hands and then up at him.

Blue eyes met violet and he smiled at her holding out his hand.

"I'm Richard" Taking his hand the girl replied

"Rachel" Richard looked at her dripping wet clothes and her shivering body before taking off his jacket and placing it round her shoulders. Rachel looked at him in surprise and slight confusion.

"You looked cold " he offered as way of explanation.

Rachel nodded and turned her head to look at the mountains. Richard took this oppurtunity to study the girl, in front of him. He noticed that her raven coloured hair shimmered in the light creating subtle violet tints. Her stunning violet orbs scanned the horizon, her features in a soft smile. He noticed the ivory skin and the hourglass figure and the way her delicate fingers pushed strands of hair off her face. Richard smiled as they reached the shore and as they stepped out of the boat, Rachel handed him his jacket back and said goodbye before walking away, leaving Richard disappointed for a reason he couldn't fathom.

It had been two hours since she'd said goodbye to Richard and to her dismay she couldn't seem to get him off her mind. She was walking along the rivers edge her eyes taking mental pictures of her surroundings, for later use when she was painting. Then she noticed a man sitting on the hill overlooking the river. She realised it was Richard and before she knew she had sat down next to him. He turned to her his blue eyes reflecting his surprise.

"Hey what are you doing here? he asked.

Rachel didn't actually know but replied anyway.

"You looked lonely"

Richard just smiled and went back to staring out across the lake, before speaking once more.

"You know if you carry on downstream you'll step in money and smell chocolate" (1)

Rachel raised an eyebrow and replied a smile on her face.

"Thats just one assumption"

Richard chuckled his eyes meeting hers as they lapsed into comfortable silence. They stayed that way sitting on the hill all afternoon, neither of them needing to talk.

As the sun set behind the mountains Richard spoke suddenly

"Do you want to go on a date tonight?"

Rachel stared at him for a minute before answering

"I'd like that."

**1 year **

Richard stared at her as she walked down the aisle. She was breathtaking in a straples white gown, her black hair falling round her face in soft waves crowned with a circlet of silver flowers. Violet eyes stared up at his as she stood facing him thier hands entwined. He barely registered the vicar's words as he focused on the woman before him. Suddenly one sentence jolted him from his thoughts.

"Do you Richard Grayson take one Rachel Roth to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Richard squeezed Rachels hand gently.

"I do" He said. T

he vicar then turned to Rachel and the two words she said made him delirious

"I do" Her violet eyes showing him just how much she cared.

The vicar smiled before continuing

"I now pronounce you man and wife you may now kiss the bride"

Richard gently palmed her face, his other hand round her waist. Leaning in he kissed her gently, softly, her hands interlocking behind his head as she kissed him back.When they broke apart Rachel stared up at her husband and grinned at him as he picked her up bridal style and carried her out of the church to the cheers of the crowd.

**2 years **

"Breathe Raven...It's ok... Dick will be here soon." Kori crooned soothingly as she stroked Rachel's hair. The woman in question glared at her,

"I don't...want...that...bastard...near...me. All...his...bloody...fault!" She bit out, groaning as the contractions hit again. Kori chuckled and shook her head. Moving out the way as a frantic Dick Grayson rushed to his wife's side.

"Hey honey...umm..you ok?" He asked mentally slapping himself. His efforts were rewarded with a glower from Rachel who was just about to make a scathing remark when another contraction hit.

" I hate you." She managed to snap at him causing an involuntary nervous chuckle.

" There's not a lot left to go now Mrs Grayson. One more push should do it." The doctor requested earning a snort from Rachel. Richard grasped his wife's hand as she pushed once more, and tried not to scream at the the pressure she was exerting on his hand. Damn that woman had a grip on her.

With one final push Rachel flopped back onto the bed and released her grip on her husband. The doctor came up to her and handed her a tiny little baby. In an instant her frustration and anger was gone, replaced by a soft smile and shining eyes as she slowly looked up at Richard.

"We have a little baby boy Dick. Our very own baby." She choked out, crystalline tears falling down her soft cheeks.

Richard sat down and placed an arm round his wife and with the other wiped her tears, failing to hold back his own. He had a son.

" I know darling. I know." He said emotion overwhelming him, his love for this new life almost suffocating him.

"Timothy William Grayson." she breathed softly, leaning into her husbands embrace.

**4 years**

Rachel leaned back staring up at the ceiling as tears poured down her face, Dick gently rocking her.

" I'm sorry...but the baby was still born. It was a little girl." The nurse said gently before leaving, handing the stillborn child to the parents for a few brief minutes.

"Why Dick... why?" Rachel cried holding the baby to her as if hoping that somehow she'd start crying.

"I don't know baby." Dick comforted sorrow clouding his features.

**6 years **

Monday morning brought chaos to the Grayson family as the Tim finished his breakfast and homework, whilst Rachel was shuffling through various sheets of paper, the phone held between her ear and shoulder, Richard frantically running around searching for his missing stethoscope.

"Hey Rachel have you seen my stethoscope?" Richard asked his wife.

Rachel looked up from the pre-Raephalite paintings order sheet.

"It's by the newpaper you read this morning" She replied eyes back on the order sheet, " No Gar we're not ordering newspapers we're ordring the pre-Raephalite paintings..."

"Thanks honey...umm where did I put the newpaper?" He questioned scratching his head.

Rachel stopped talking to Garfield for a minute and said rather confusedly

"What?" suddenly the doorbell rang and Timmy got up from the table and hugged his mother before running out the door to the car, followed by Richard who said

"Its ok it was by the newpaper" before kissing his wife and leaving for work.

Rachel just stood there staring before turning back to the phone

"Yes Gar I'm still here I'll be at work soon."

**1 Year**

_To our darling Timmy_

_May you finally gain a peace in death,_

_Unknown in your last few months with us. (2)_

**Jump City 1989 :Valentines day pt 2 **

The rain poured down as lightening streaked across the night sky, illuminating the black clouds that blanketed Jump City. Jump Hospitals Paediatric Ward was almost empty and as Richard entered the waiting room the only patient left was a little girl and her mother. As he sat down beside her she looked up and went back to drawing on the wall.

"Hey" he said amicably.

The girl continued drawing giving a half hearted reply

"Hi"

Richard smiled at her before saying

"You probably shouldn't be writing on the wall you know its someone else art"

The girl shrugged and putting the pen in her back pocket turned to him and said

"I don't care"

Richard laughed and smiling at her replied

"My son used to be like that, when I caught him he would say: _Whats the difference you weren't looking_,"

At this the girl grinned and followed him into the examination room. As she sat up on the table he took out his stethoscope and listened to her heartbeat,

"Whats your name?" He asked as he was getting a small torch.

"Danni" The girl replied just before he shined the torch down her throat.

Just then her mother entered

"Dr Grayson is she alright, she came home from school and wouldn't eat, she had a temperature and she insisted..." Just then Richard's cellphone rang, the mother continued regardless whilst he turned to the child and said,

"Cup your hands over your mouth and breath in and out ok, now see if you can do that longer than your mother talks"(3)

Danni smiled and did as he asked as Richard answered his phone.

"Hey Dick" Came Rachel's voice "Look i'm not going to be able to make the dinner reservations for tonights anniversary, the shipmaent of Renaissance paintings is running late and I have to do paperwork. I tried to get out of it but I'm looking at an all nighter, we're wating on one painting..." Her voice sounded so guilty and apologetic

"Its ok Rachel, what about putting one of your paintings up instead, the one in my office is in that style of painting. That way we could still make the reservations" Richard replied

"That could work, Thank you Dick" Rachel spoke joy evident in her voice.

Richard smiled

"No prob, see you later" The cellphone off he turned to Danni and her mother, who had stopped talking.

"She's ok, no visible symptons, I suggest you go home" He said reassuringly as he ushered them out of the room.

Danni smiled and waved at him before exiting the hospital.Richard waved back and then removed the painting from a hook on his wall and proceeded to his car.

Driving along the road, he took a glance at his watch. He had 10 minutes to get the painting to the musuem before the exhibition opened. He looked back at the road as he was turning a corner and hit the brakes coming to a halt in front of three wrecked cars.As he got out the car he reasoned there had been an accident.He ran over to the nearest car and found a struggling woman, who was crying

"Help me please help me!" She sobbed

"It's ok I'll get you out, I need to get my bag I'll be right back" Richard replied soothingly but as he turned away he saw a lorry crash into his car, sending it flying towards him.That was all he saw before falling into blackness.

He opened his eyes to see doctors strugling to revive a bandaged body, the flatline of the monitor ringing in his ears. He felt a hand on his shoulders and a voice spoke,

"That's you" Richard turned to face him and was met with the comforting warm eyes of an afro-american male, the words spinning around his head,

"I can't be...I'm not.. I'm stilll here... that can't be me... I can't be dead. You can't be Victor...you just can't...he...he.."

"Died." Victor finished " I'm here to help you move on Dick. It was tough for me too but It's wonderful up there."

Richard looked at the man the reality of what had happened sinking in finally and his face paled

"Rachel..what about my wife?" he asked panicking, what was happening? how was she coping?... even if he was dead he couldn't...couldn't leave her.

"She's in the waiting room, but I'd be care..." Victor began but his words fell on deaf ears as Richard ran out of the room.

Rachel couldn't believe it. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be dead...the thoughts ran through her head and she barely heard what the doctor was saying and paid no heed when he left.

"Why!" she sobbed "Why did you leave me...why" Her voice had trailed off near the end as more sobs wracked her petite frame.

Richard couldn't bear to see her like this, it broke his heart, he couldn't leave her...he just couldn't...he reached out to touch her cheek but she had stood up and was hurriedly leaving the hospital. He stared at her retreating figure as memories of her and his children consumed him,

_Flashback_

_Timmy's blue eyes were filled with worry as he stroked his dog Katie. Rachel sat down next to them and placed a comforting hand on her son's shoulder, smoothing back his flyaway balck hair. _

_"Can I go with her to the Hospital mom? Until she gets better.?" Timmy asked quietly. Rachel sighed before speaking,_

_"Sweetie, Katie's not coming back from the hospital, they're going to put her to sleep" Timmy turned to his mother anger filling his eyes,_

_"YOUR GOING TO KILL MY DOG!" he yelled._

_"She's in so much pain darling I don't want her to suffer any more than she has to ok? " Rachel consoled trying to placate her son. Timmy's anger subsided but was quickly replaced by tears, as he cried into his mom's shoulder._

_"Your...y..our g..going to..to.k..kill my..dog" he cried.._

_"Its ok she's going to a special place" Rachel said rubbing his back soothingly,_

_"She is?"Timmy asked wiping his face.. Rachel nodded wiping his tears,_

_"Uh huh shes going to dog heaven. Where she'll eat bones every day and will never ever die." she said gently. He smiled slightly_

_"Good at least she's going to heaven" he said looking once more at his dog before running off to play._

_Rachel turned as Richard's arms wrapped around her shoulder's._

_"I love you. You know that right?" He said nuzzling her hair._

_"I know. I love you too believe it or not." She joked in response._

_End Flashback_

"Rachel..." he breathed softly.

**Two days**

Ebony hair fell across his eyes as he reached out to touch the canvas in front of him. His hand glided straight through it earning a sorrowful sigh from the man. Victor stood silently next to him, chocolate eyes watching Richard.

"This is where we first met. On Valentines day. Her representation of it, see, there's the blossom tree which I'm standing under and the blurry figure is Rachel.." He spoke as if to himself.

"It's beautiful." Victor conceeded following Dick into the study where Rachel was working. Stabding behind her Richard watched her write.

She sat there looking at her diary, she didn't know why she was doing it, and she placed the blame on her damn psychiatrist. Placing the pen to the paper she began writing, pouring her emotions onto the blank pages,

_Dear Diary_

_I am writing in your bullshit pages because my shrinks crazier than I am. He thinks your therapy. He figures that if two babies could hammer me into a psycho ward, what'll this do? He's so stupid. He's so stupid he thinks that he pulled me through the breakdown, when it was just Dick. Always only Dick.I waas looking through his postcards, paintings were his obsession. He used art as another way to love me.To keep us always together.(4)_

Rachel looked at what she'd written and tried to hold back the tears. Richard had been reading it the entire time and at the end he muttered

"Jesus Christ" Suddenly his eyes widened and a smile crept onto his features.He bent over he shoulder, gently whispering into her ear,

"I still exist Rachel, I still exist" Her hand began moving across the page "Your thinking of me keep thinking of me, I'm still here"

Rachel looked at the words and muttered almost inaudibly,

"No.." There on the page were the words

**THS IS DCK...I STILL EXST (5)**

She stood up abruptly and began throwing things round the room, pictures, pillows, ornaments. Anything she could break Rachel was throwing, all the while screaming

"I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy!"

Victor approached Richard who was staring at his wife sadly.

"You should stop hurting her" he said shaking his head.

"I'm not hurting her! I won't leave her!" Ricard yelled at him.

Victor shook his head once more.

"Then you can't move on" He said.

Richard stared coldly at him, before turning abruptly and stalking out of the room.

**4 days **

His heart wrenched as he stared at the epitaph etched into the granite.

_Father and husband forever (6)_

Victor spoke gently yet truthfully,

"Reality is, it ends when you stop wanting to hurt her"

Richard didn't even bother answering as he encircled his arms around his wife saying

"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere baby"

Rachel began screaming and clutching her head.

"It's not real, it's not real, I'm not crazy!" She shouted.

Richard let go and stared at her sadness clouding his features as he said,

"I'm sorry. Goodbye baby"

With that he let himself leave behind the world he loved and began to run along a tunnel into a welcoming light.

**2 months**

_A mother, a wife and a wonderful friend. _

_May happiness find you, even in death. (7)_

**1989**

Two smiling 17 year olds stared out across the stunning landscape before them, hands entwined. Richard stared down into the sparkling violet orbs that belonged to his wife and brushed his lips against hers, bringing one hand up to her ivory skin.

"Let's go back." He whispered gently. Rachel stared at him questioningly and he elaborated,

"Come back here and be reborn, find each other all over again, fall in love."

Rachel leaned into him wrapping her arms around his waist,

"What if we don't find each other? I don't want to lose you again. What about the kids?" she stated fear creeping into her voice as she buried her head into his chest.

"I found you the first time didn't I? The kids are fine. They want us to go" He replied, stroking her raven black hair.

Looking up at him she kissed him forcibly and pulled back grinning.

"Let's go home Dick."

**Jump City 2006: Valentines day pt 3**

Sitting on the rocks outside the tower, Raven Roth let the afternoon sun glide across her upturned face, her feet dangling in the tranquil waters of Jump City Lake. Something felt different about today but she couldn't quite figure out what and to be honest didn't care. She had a loving family and was more than happy to just enjoy Valentine's day, even though she didn't have anyone 'special ' as such to share it with. A voice quickly brought her to back to reality however and she looked over to find Robin sitting next to her.

"Do want something to eat? You've been out here for hours." He said offering her a sandwich.

Raven accepted the food gratefully and watched her leader silently before finishing off the sandwich and staring back up at the sky.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready to go on a date with Starfire?" She asked calmly, even though it was tearing her up inside.

Robin looked at her and for that brief moment forgot everything except just how beautiful she was, as golden shafts of light danced across her face, illuminting her violet eyes with an almost unerathly glow and her hair blowing in the slight breeze. He came back to reality and looked out at the calm waters.

"I'm not going on a date with Starfire tonight. I don't like her in that way and I wish people didn't assume that." He stated bitterly. Raven looked at him in surprise and tried to contain the small glimmer of hope that flared inside of her.

"Y..you don't." She asked tentatively. Robin looked at her, realising in the brief hesitation her unasked question.

A smile formed on his face,

"No I don't and since that's been cleared up... Raven do you want to go on a date?" He asked as the strange sensation of deja vu washed over him.

"I'd like that." She replied, a soft smile gracing her features as she looked at him. Slowly she peeled off his mask and stared into the icy warm depths of his cerulean eyes,Unable to stop herself, she traced his face carefully as if remembering something from a long time ago, her eys misting over slowly.

"You found me." She breathed softly.

Robin looked at her and without thinking about it kissed her, whispering gently

"And I'll never let you go again."

_When I was young I met a beautiful young girl by a lake... _**(9)**

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Whew. That was one of my longest one-shots and I hope you enjoy it. Any queries please don't hesitate to ask.

Anyway Read and Review!

A/N The gap between 1989 and 2006 shows the childhoods of Raven and Robin. A period of about 17 years.

**1) **They are in Switzerland which is known for money and chocolate. This is a direct quote from the film as well as her reply.

**2) **This is an epitaph. It is basically a message on a gravestone.

**3) **I don't know what this was for but it was in the film.

**4)** This was directly from the film as well as the painting.

**5)** This simply says. THIS IS DICK. I STILL EXIST!. It is spelt as in the film.

**6)** Epitaph

**7)** Epitaph (commited suicide)

**9)** From the film.

Sayonara (Japanese for Goodbye)

-x-Karusu-Hime-x-


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